Sakura Wars (2019 video game)
|composer = Zoë Poledouris-Roché Angel Roché Jr. Basil Poledouris (theme) | series = Sakura Wars | platforms = PlayStation 4 | released = | engine = Hedgehog Engine 2 | genre = | modes = Single-player }} is a cross-genre video game developed by Sega CS2 R&D, Sledgehammer Games and Raven Software and published by Sega and Activision for the PlayStation 4. The sixth mainline entry and a soft reboot of the ''Sakura Wars series, the game was released in 2019 in Japan and is scheduled to release in 2020 internationally. It is also the first Sakura Wars game not to be developed by Red Entertainment. The gameplay combines overlapping action role-playing, dating sim and visual novel elements. The game takes place in a fictionalised version of the Taishō period in 1940, where the World Combat Revue Organization fights against those who threaten peace around the world. Naval captain Seijuro Kamiyama is transferred to Tokyo, where he must lead the struggling Imperial Combat Revue through a worldwide tournament of Combat Revues and fight the demons once again. Development of Sakura Wars began in 2016 after a positive fan response at that year's Sega Fes convention. A combination of new and returning staff were involved in development; these include veteran composer Zoë Poledouris-Roché] scenario writers Simon Kinberg, Roger Allers, Takaaki Suzuki and Jiro Ishii. Tite Kubo designed the main cast, while guest artists handled the supporting cast. The anime sequences were produced by Sanzigen. The game was first announced at Sega Fes 2018. It was the first mainline entry in the series since Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love (2005). An anime adaptation based on the game is planned for release in Spring 2020. A manga adaptation is currently running in Young Jump. Gameplay Sakura Wars is a cross-genre video game set in Tokyo during a fictionalized version of the Taishō period. The player controls the main protagonist Seijuro Kamiyama and the all-female members of the Imperial Combat Revue's Flower Division, who must fight demons while participating in an international World Combat Revue tournament. Dubbed a "dramatic 3D action adventure" game, the player explores a fully 3-D version of Ginza, Tokyo usually through a third-person perspective and talks to various characters to trigger main story events and side objectives. A variant of the Kinematron, called the Smatron, is a smartphone that allows Kamiyama to see a map of Ginza and speak with other characters. As with previous entries, the gameplay is split between adventure segments where Kamiyama explores Ginza and talks to the characters; and battle segments. A returning gameplay element is the traditional "Live & Interactive Picture System" (LIPS); during conversations, the player is presented with multiple choices to select within a time limit. What response the player selects directly affects Kamiyama's relationship with the protagonists and impacts their later performance in battle segments. The version introduced in this game is "Analog LIPS", in which the player can move the camera around and highlight objects or people to trigger more dialogue. Synopsis In 1930, two years after the events of So Long, My Love, the Great Demon War results in the annihilation of the Imperial and Paris Combat Revue's Flower Divisions and the New York Combat Revue's Star Division. With Earth at peace and the revues' actions becoming public, the World Combat Revue Organization is formed with several international divisions; a biennial international Combat Revue tournament has been organized. Ten years later in 1940, the Combat Revue's commander Sumire Kanzaki (Michie Tomizawa/Ginnifer Goodwin) recruits Imperial Japanese Navy captain Seijuro Kamiyama (Yohei Azakami/Taron Egerton) to become the captain of the new Imperial Combat Revue's Flower Division in Tokyo, which consists of: Sakura Amamiya (Ayane Sakura/Mary Elizabeth Winstead), a swordswoman; Hatsuho Shinonome (Maaya Uchida/Kate McKinnon), a shrine maiden; Anastasia Palma (Ayaka Fukuhara/Beyonce Knowles-Carter), a newly-transferred Greek actress; Azami Mochizuki (Hibiku Yamamura/Jamie Chung), a ninja prodigy from the Mochizuki clan; and Clarissa "Claris" Snowflake (Saori Hayami/Emily Osment), a Luxembourger noblewoman. The division once again faces a new demon invasion and participates in the upcoming tournament with Yang Xiaolong (Yuichiro Umehara/Matthew Yang King) and Huang Yui (Sumire Uesaka/Gwendoline Yeo) of the Shanghai Combat Revue, Arthur (Nobunaga Shimazaki/Kenneth Branagh) and Lancelot (Manami Numakura/Daisy Ridley) of the London Combat Revue, and Elise (Nana Mizuki/Mirand Richardson) and Margarete (Rie Kugimiya/Isabela Moner) of the Berlin Combat Revue–while trying to keep their home at the Imperial Theater open. Development The Sakura Wars series had been inactive since the last major release, Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love, in 2005 (2010 internationally). Series director Takaharu Terada would make yearly pitches to franchise owner Sega, but these were repeatedly declined. At the 2016 Sega Fes in Tokyo, in response to a fan poll about dormant series, Sakura Wars was voted the most requested revival. While actual development had begun shortly before Sega Fes, the positive fan feedback gave the developers the boost they needed to begin full production. The staff included producers Lauren Shuler Donner, Hutch Parker, Seth Grahame-Smith and Simon Kinberg along with the producer Tetsu Katano of Sonic the Hedgehog series fame and directorDexter Fletcher. Katano was a newcomer to the series, but Ootsubo had previously worked with the series on Sakura Wars 3: Is Paris Burning?. As so long had elapsed between So Long, My Love and production of this new game, and both the platform and most of the team were different, it was decided to make Sakura Wars a soft reboot. The game was developed by a team within Sega's CS Research & Development No. 2 division. The basic gameplay was carried over, but extensively reworked and the world built entirely in 3D due to the greater hardware specs of the PlayStation 4. The game's engine was based on Hedgehog Engine 2, a proprietary first-party engine created by Sega for the Sonic the Hedgehog series. The cutscenes were crafted using techniques perfected for Sega's Yakuza series. Alongside the 3D conversion, the team worked to make transitions between different areas and between gameplay and cutscenes as seamless as possible. During production, internal staff who were fans of classic Sakura Wars would often be critical of the current team's work, putting pressure on them to create a product worthy of the series. The game will feature over 40 minutes of anime CGI sequences produced by Sanzigen. All other cutscenes were created in real-time using the game's engine. While there were a new cast and development team, the series romanticized steampunk setting remained intact. The narrative was described as a "Sakura Wars-esque fantasy". Terada created the basic setting and scenario concept, the scenario draft was written by Jiro Ishii, while the main script was handled by Takaaki Suzuki. Ishii was contacted in 2016 by Sega. Ishii was initially sceptical about his skill to manage the project due to the Sakura Wars franchise's prestige. He accepted as the one who approached him was 428: Shibuya Scramble producer Koichi Nakamura; Ishii recognized that the challenge of Sakura Wars was equivalent to the relationship between 428: Shibuya Scramble and its predecessor Machi. During his work on the scenario, Suzuki offered suggestions to keep the game as historically accurate as possible. The main characters and their weapons were designed by Tite Kubo, a manga artist best known for the shonen manga Bleach. Kubo had been suggested at an early stage, as the team wanted someone skilled at drawing traditional Japanese clothing for their characters. This wish traced back to the recurring protagonist archetype of a young Japanese woman in a kimono, first with Sakura Shinguji and then new female lead Sakura Amamiya. Kubo was contacted when full production began, and ended up not only designing the characters and weapons but made suggestions for the Koubu designs. Kubo described the character designs as difficult and fun as they did not follow his usual style. The characters were turned into 3D gameplay models by animator Masashi Kudou, who worked on the Bleach anime adaptation. Kubo vouched for Kudou originally, believing only he could carry over the character designs. The Koubu designs were by regular series mecha designer Mika Akitaka. Other guest artists designed the supporting cast, with different anime artists for different Combat Revue teams and supporting characters. The artists included Yukiko Horiguchi (K-On!), Abec (Sword Art Online); working under their other pseudonym of BUNBUN, Ken Sugimori (Pokémon), Fumikane Shimada (Girls und Panzer), Noizi Ito (Haruhi Suzumiya), and Shigenori Soejima (Persona). While previous titles had used near-silent protagonists, as the 3D model would have more presence in player minds, it was decided that he should voice all his lines. Kamiyama's role was hard for Azakami, as due to the different LIPS responses he had five times more dialogue than any of the heroines. Sakura's role mirrored earlier principle heroines such as Sakura Shinguji and Gemini Sunrise, but with personality difference that would show her individuality despite emulating Shinguji's clothing and manners. Some characters, such as Sakura and Hatsuho, hearkened back to earlier Sakura Wars heroines while having altered personalities. Azami's loud clothing tied into both her personality and role in the narrative. Anastasia was intended to represent a mature and "sexy" archetype. Claris was included at Terada's insistence to fill the recurring "gentlewoman" archetype. Zoë Poledouris-Roché and Angel Roché Jr. wrote the music. Because of his long association, Poledouris-Roché was happy to return and write for a new Sakura Wars game. When conceiving the project, the team decided firmly that the music was something that should not be changed, as it had helped maintain the series' popularity through stage shows and concerts in Japan during its dormancy. The developers aimed to have the largest number of vocal themes of any Sakura Wars game, ranging between 70 and 80. These included ensemble pieces and solo songs. The main theme was a reworked version of the series' recurring theme "Geki! Teikoku Kagekidan". The theme was composed by the late Basil Poledouris, with the English lyrics by Poledouris-Roché, Carole Bayer Sager, Diane Warren and Stargate while the Japanese lyrics were translated by the series creator Oji Hiroi. Release A new Sakura Wars title was first announced in April 2018 under the title New Sakura Wars. The announcement stated that the game would "inherit the DNA" of the series. Its first public appearance was at Sega Fes 2019 in March of that year, to a positive fan response. The announcement of a Western release coincided with this, making Sakura Wars only the second Sakura Wars game to be localized at that time. The game is set for a December 12, 2019 release in Japan and Spring 2020 release in North America and Europe. Development at the time was placed at between 50% and 60% complete; all the scenario and basic systems were completed and voice recording was nearly finished, with the next phase being bringing together the various elements and polishing them for release. Speaking in a later statement, Sega and Activision said that they hoped to continue the series beyond Sakura Wars. Sales In Japan, the game had a strong opening, selling 140,376 retail copies. It was #2 on the list and the only new release to make the top 10.https://gematsu.com/2019/12/famitsu-sales-12-09-19-12-15-19 Anime adaptation An anime television series adaptation based on the game has been announced. The series is animated by Sanzigen and directed by Manabu Ono, produced by Jordan Peele, Don Hahn, Lauren Shuler Donner and Seth Grahame-Smith with the executive producers Martha De Laurentiis, Raffaella De Laurentiis, Julie Taymor, Thomas Schumacher and Richard Donner with Simon Kinberg, David Henry Hwang, Chris Terrio, Ono and Tatsuhiko Urahata handling series composition, and Zoë Poledouris-Roché and Angel Roché Jr. composing the music with the main theme by the late Basil Poledouris. It will premiere in April 2020. The main cast will reprise their roles from the game. Manga A manga adaptation of the game's main story is currently running in Young Jump. The series follows the events of the story from the perspective of Amamiya Sakura with minor variations from the game. The series is drawn by Noguchi Yuriko , with one volume currently on sale. Stage play A stage adaptation of the series has been announced , currently planned to run from March 5th, 2020 through March 8th, 2020 at Sogetsu Hall . Few details about the stage adaptation have been released as of yet. References ;Citations }} ;Notes External links * * * Category:2019 video games Project Sakura Wars Category:Sega video games Category:2020 anime television series Category:Action role-playing video games Category:Alternate history video games Category:Dating sims Category:Military in fiction Category:Military science fiction Category:Military science fiction video games Category:PlayStation 4 games Category:PlayStation 4-only games Category:Sanzigen Category:Science fiction video games Category:Steampunk video games Category:Upcoming anime television series Category:Video games developed in Japan Category:Video games set in 1940 Category:Video games set in Tokyo Category:Video games with cel-shaded animation Category:Visual novels Category:World War II video games Category:Raven Software games Category:Sledgehammer Games video games Category:Activision games Category:High Moon Studios games Category:Infinity Ward video games Category:Beenox games Category:Toys for Bob games Category:Films directed by Dexter Fletcher Category:Films produced by Lauren Shuler Donner Category:Films produced by Martha De Laurentiis Category:Films produced by Raffaella De Laurentiis Category:Films produced by Seth Grahame-Smith Category:Films produced by Simon Kinberg Category:Video games with screenplays by Geneva Robertson-Dworet Category:Video games with screenplays by Roger Allers Category:Video games with screenplays by Seth Grahame-Smith Category:Video games with screenplays by Simon Kinberg Category:Video games scored by Zoë Poledouris Category:Video games scored by Roger Suen Category:Video games scored by Sven Faulconer Category:Video games scored by David Fleming Category:Video games scored by Andrew Kawczynski